Method and means for laying out slivers and the like



y 1964 H. GASSER 3,141,201

METHOD AND MEANS FOR LAYING OUT SLIVERS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 6, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l PRIOR ART PRIOR ART INVENTOR. HERMANN GASSER BY A TTORNEY y 21, 1 H. GASSER 3,141,201

METHOD AND MEANS FOR LAYING OUT SLIVERS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 6, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7

INVENTOR. 1L7 ERM ANN A 555R 5 Z1 fiumw A TTORNEY United States Patent 3,141,201 METHOD AND MEANS FOR LAYING OUT SLIVERS AND THE LIKE Hermann Gasser, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Pneumafil Corporation, Charlotte, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 6, 1960, Ser. No. 54,207 Claims priority, application Switzerland Sept. 8, 1959 19 Claims. (Cl. 19159) The present invention relates generally to drawing frames and to a novel method of and means for feeding, depositing and laying out bundles of filaments or Webs into an open container or sliver can and, more particularly, to a novel arrangement and construction of a guide tube carried on a rotatable coiler head permitting safe and high speed delivery of the web or sliver into the sliver can.

In drawing frames and other similar machines the webs or slivers are generally fed into a rotatable coiler head assembly provided with a guide tube having a passageway through which the slivers are directed for depositing into a sliver can the slivers in superimposed but circumferentially displaced or angularly offset, continuous looped coils or helixes. The sliver can or container may preferably be mounted for rotation and eccentrically arranged with respect to the axis of rotation of the coiler head assembly. The combination with drawing frames of apparatus for the continuous pneumatic removal of dust or fluff loosened from the strands of fibers has created the attendant requirement that the drawing frames be reliably and economically operated at delivery speeds of the slivers or webs which are substantially greater in magnitude than the delivery speeds heretofore utilized. However, the employment of drawing frames operated at these greater delivery speeds necessitates that a considerably greater length of the webs or slivers is deposited or laid out in the sliver container per unit time than hitherto required and, in turn, requires an increase in the tangential speed or velocity, particularly of the coiler head.

An increase in the tangential velocity of the coiler head by increasing the radius of said coiler head is only possible to a limited extent since it involves a corresponding increase in the diameter of the sliver can. Thus, there only remains the possibility of increasing the number of revolutions per unit time of the coiler head whereby a greater length of the web or sliver may be delivered and deposited.

A number of experiments and tests have been conducted which clearly indicate that the forces acting on the web upon delivery from the guide tube of a coiler head of a conventional coiler head assembly rapidly cause destruction and deterioration of the web if the number of revolutions is increased, as for example, by fraying the web. Moreover, a further adverse effect on the web becomes apparent due to the ballooning of the web portion entering the sliver can at high speed. The web portion scrapes against the edge of the sliver can and also becomes frayed.

Although the coiler head constructions of the prior art disclose replacing a straight guide tube downwardly inclined toward the periphery of the coiler plate with a guide tube provided with a delivery end or outlet which extends vertically downwards, such a constructed guide tube is still located in an axial plane. Notwithstanding the fact that a guide tube constructed in the last mentioned manner permits a somewhat greater increase in the rate of revolution of the coiler head than possible with other types of conventional coiler head devices, it still does not permit a substantial increase in the rate 3,141,201 Patented July 21, 1964 of revolution of the coiler head since the afore-mentioned disadvantages will still be experienced.

The teachings of the present invention provide a novel method and means for depositing and laying out the webs or slivers while simultaneously obviating the afore-mentioned disadvantages and permitting high speed delivery and running of the coiler head assembly. To this end, there is generally provided a rotatable coiler turntable or plate which carries a novel type of guide tube constructed and oriented on the coiler turntable so as to permit a high rate of revolution of said turntable, and yet, safely handles the slivers. The guide tube is bent or curved to assume such a configuration that the slivers are directed in a predetermined path of travel and emerge from the delivery end of the guide tube in a direction extending downward and rearwardly with respect to the direction of rotation of the coiler turntable. The relative velocity of the web has a resolved tangential or horizontal velocity component which is substantially equal and opposed to the tangential velocity of the coiler turntable; more specifically, it is equal to the tangential velocity at the outlet region of the coiler head assembly. The novel guide tube is oriented on the coiler turntable in such a manner as to deflect the web or slivers between a substantially coaxial inlet portion and a radially displaced delivery portion. The delivery portion of the guide tube extends toward the circumference of the turntable and in close proximity thereto, the point of dis charge of the outlet of said guide tube lying in a tangential plane with respect to a radius of the turntable taken through said point of discharge. The relative velocity vector of the web emerging from said point of discharge lying in said tangential plane and substantially at right angles to said turntable radius. The absolute velocity component of the emerging web is directed normal to the plane of the turntable so that no undesirable forces will be applied to the delivered Web. In this manner it is now possible to safely and reliably handle slivers delivered and layed out at high speeds without fear of damage and fraying thereof, while permitting increased rotational speeds of the coiler head assembly.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide means for depositing and collecting slivers and the like in a controlled and reliable manner preventing exertion of tensile stress tending to damage said slivers, and further, to control the laying out of the slivers in the sliver can so that fraying and destruction of said slivers will not result.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means controlling the path of travel of the slivers and their magnitude and direction of delivery to prevent application of undesirable forces on said silvers.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of and means for advancing slivers and the like in a coiler head assembly so that only a vertically or normal directed absolute velocity component is imparted to said slivers.

Yet a further object of the present invention is the provision of novel means and a method of directing slivers in a controlled manner through a coiler head assembly wherein the direction of discharge of the slivers is rearwardly and downwardly directed with respect to the direction of rotation of a coiler turntable.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel arrangement and construction of a coiler guide tube for delivering slivers and the like in a predetermined direction and with a horizontal relative velocity component which offsets and is equal to the tangential ve locity of at least the point of discharge or discharge opening of the guide tube and its carrying turntable.

These and still further objects of the present invention Q and its entire scope and applicability will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a sectional view of a conventional type coiler head assembly provided with a guide tube;

FIGURE 2 illustrates a side view of the coiler head assembly shown in FIGURE 1 including a velocity triangle;

FIGURE 3 is a top view of the coiler head assembly shown in FIGURE 1 including a velocity triangle;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken along lines IV IV of FIG. 6 of a coiler head assembly pursuant to the present invention provided with the novel arrangement and construction of a guide tube;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the coiler head assembly shown in FIGURE 4, but taken along lines V-V thereof, and illustrates a velocity triangle for the delivered web;

FIGURE 6 is a top View of the coiler head assembly shown in FIGURES 4 and 5;

FIGURES 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views illustrating the forces and velocity conditions on delivery of the web from the coiler head assembly, in plan view and elevational view, respectively.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged plan view of the delivery portion of the guide tube pursuant to FIGURES 4 through 6; and

FIGURES 10 and 11 illustrate further forms of guide tube which may be employed in the coiler head assembly.

Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly, to FIGURES 1 t0 3, a conventional coiler head assembly A heretofore known in the art is shown, said coiler assembly being provided with a rotatable coiler turntable 1 carrying thereon a guide tube 2 adapted to receive and guide the passing webs or slivers received from a suitable supply source. The guide tube 2 is arranged on the turntable 1, rotating in the direction of the arrow 3, so as to be inclined downwardly and outwardly toward the periphery of the coiler turntable 1. The guide tube 2 is disposed in an axial plane 11, taken normal to the plane of the paper of FIGURE 3 and extending through the center or axis of rotation 0. For the sake of clarity in explanation, the other parts of the conventional coiler head assembly A and the sliver can into which the guide tube opens and into which the webs are coiled have not been shown.

During rotation of the coiler turntable 1 in the direction of the arrow 3, the web or slivers (not shown) are delivered from the outlet portion 2a of the guide tube 2 with a relative velocity V, which may be resolved into the radial or horizontal component V and the normal or vertically directed relative velocity component V The tangential velocity U of the rotatable coiler turntable 1, in the region of discharge 10 of the outlet portion 2a, becomes operative of the relative velocity components V and V to produce the resultant components W and W respectively, as clearly indicated by the velocity triangles of FIGURES 2 and 3. The web is therefore delivered with an absolute velocity W, which is the resultant of the velocity vectors W and W and merely schematically illustrated by the dashed-line of FIGURE 3. The absolute velocity vector W extends downwardly out of the plane of the paper of FIGURE 3 in the direction of rotation of the turntable 1.

Due to the radial component of velocity and the cen trifugal force which is a function of the tengential velocity U, a combined force becomes operative on the delivered web tending to force it in an outward direction, thereby exerting a tensile stress on the web at the point of delivery which will cause more probable breakage of the web strand as the absolute velocity increases. In addition, the web is dragged along the wall or rim of the sliver can before being laid out into the desired configuration so that fraying and destruction of the fibers ensues.

In contradistinction thereto, the novel method and coiler head assembly of the present invention, as shown in FIGURES 4-11, overcomes these undesirable effects by reducing or eliminating the action of the centrifugal force due to the controlled rotation of the coiler turntable by providing a guide tube construction and assembly wherein the tangential velocity of the coiler turntable and a resolved component of the delivery velocity of the web at least partially compensate or offset one another. Thus, as clearly shown in FIGURES 4-6, instead of employing a straight guide tube 2, there is provided a guide tube 4 which is preferably bent in three directions, having the inlet portion 5 coaxially arranged with the axis of rotation 0 of the turntable and a radially displaced and axially offset delivery or outlet portion 6. The delivery portion 6 is downwardly inclined and rearwardly directed with respect to the rotational sense 3 of the coiler turntable 1. Intermediate the inlet portion 5 and the delivery portion 6, the guide tube is further constituted by a substantially straight central portion 7 and a curved deflecting portion 8 disposed forwardly of said central portion 7 (see FIGURE 9). As seen in FIGURE 6, the guide tube 4 is bent at an angle ,6 in the horizontal projection, which angle is about 45 degrees in the disclosed embodiment. This angle should preferably not be smaller than 30 degrees so that the web or sliver will not be deflected too abruptly. For the sake of clarity and convenience of description, the remaining conventional elements of the coiler head assembly and its drive means have not been shown, but may be of the type and arrangement shown by Hendrickson, United States Patent 2,355,071, issued August 8, 1944 or Dudley, United States Patent 2,770,016, issued November 13, 1956.

Upon delivery from the delivery portion of the guide tube 4, the web emerges from the point of delivery 10 with a relative velocity V which, however, is directed downwardly and rearwardly with respect to the rotation of the coiler turntable 1 in the direction of the arrow 3. The relative velocity V of the web lies in a tangential plane and forms substantially a right angle with a radius taken through the central point of discharge 10 of the outlet of the guide tube 4. The relative velocity V of the web is resolved into the tangential component V and the verticallyextending relative velocity component V (see FIG- URE 5). The tangential velocity U of the rotatable coiler turntable 1 in the region of web discharge is made equal in magnitude but in reversed direction to the tangential relative velocity component V so as to offset and cancel one another, whereby the absolute velocity W of the web is composed of only the vertical and downwardly directed resultant W, which in effect, is the same as the relative velocity vector V Thus, the absolute velocity component W of the web causes the latter to emerge neatly and to be laid in the desired helical and centrally offset coiled configuration. The rear wall or leading edge 6a of the guide tube 4 in the region of the outlet during rotation of the guide tube defines an imaginary circle of revolution having a radius r and indicated by the dotted line 11. The center discharge point 10 in the outlet region of the guide tube 4 also forms an imaginary circle of revolution as indicated by the dotted line 12. The discharge portion 6 of the guide tube is given such a curvature that it gradually and tangentially approaches the circle of revolution 11 from the outside. The leading guide wall of the guide tube includes an inner wall which at least in the region of the discharge portion faces towards the axis of rotation of, the coiler turntable. The speed of the turntable 1 may be controlled in any conventional manner, as for example, by employing a variable speed motor or other suitable drive means.

The delivery portion 6 of the guide tube shown in F1- URE 6 is designed to take into account the condition of discharging the web or slivers in a tangential plane and in a rearward and downward direction, but further, the curvature of the guide tube and especially the delivery portion 6 is constructed so as to ensure an absolute balance of the forces acting on the web upon delivery from the coiler head assembly. In order to obtain a balance of the forces acting on the web, that is to say, so that it may be coiled in a predetermined configuration for laying out in a sliver container, the radial velocity as well as its radial acceleration on delivery must be made equal to zero.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the web in the delivery area of the guide tube 4 is subjected, on the one hand, to the centrifugal forces Z and Z and, on the other hand, to the oppositely directed Coriolis force C. The reference numeral Z denotes the centrifugal force caused by the rotational movement of the outlet end of the leading wall 6a of the delivery region of guide tube 4 defining the circle of revolution 11 having a radius r, whereas Z is the centrifugal force resulting from the movement of the web along a path of travel having the radius of curvature R.

It is to be assumed that the forces operative on the web upon discharge from the guide tube of the coiler assembly are to be balanced or eliminated, such that:

In order that just as much web is delivered by the coiler assembly as can be effectively laid out in looped coils substantially in the form of offset helixes or circles having the radius 1' described by the movement of the delivery or outlet of the guide tube, the magnitude of the relative velocity V of the web should preferably be made equal to the magnitude of the tangential velocity U at the coiler delivery point, see FIGURE 8.

In consideration of the relationship wherein V: U, the radius of curvature R of the guide tube 4 in the area or region of the delivery portion 6 of said guide tube can be calculated from the aforementioned equation, giving a solution of:

The last mentioned equation clearly indicates that should the web emerge in the plane of the coiler turntable 1, that is, in a horizontal direction from the outlet of the guide tube, the radius of curvature R=r because the angle 11:0 and, accordingly, cos cc=1.

However, in order to eliminate distortion of the fibers of the web at the point of delivery portion 6 of the guide tube 4 must be downwardly inclined, the angle a assuming a value up to 30 degrees. Consequently, the radius of curvature R of the guide tube can be calculated including the corresponding delivery portion 6 thereof and will therefore exceed r. On the other hand, if the delivery portion 6 or at least the end of the leading wall 6a must open or terminate at a point having the radius r, so that rotation of the end of the leading wall 6a defines said imaginary circle of revolution 11 of radius r, then it is found that the rear or leading wall 6a of the delivery portion 6 of the guide tube 4 tangentially approaches the circle of revolution 11 from the outside. However, it should be noted that for the angles a in question, the deviation of the delivery portion 6 and the deflecting portion 8 of the guide tube 4 from the generatrix of the circle of revolution 11 is never really large since, preferably, at least these respective portions 6 and 8 of the guide tube are disposed in a plane which is inclined with respect to a horizontal at the angle a.

In FIGURE 9 there is shown an enlarged plan view of the coiler head assembly pursuant to the present invention. Here again, the radius R determining the curvature of the guide surface or leading wall 6a of the delivery portion 6 of guide tube 4 is exaggerated with respect to the radius r. The delivery portion 6 of the guide tube 4 and provided with the guide surface 6:: extends through an angle 7 which, in actual practice, may amount to about 15 degrees. The angle 0 through which the web is deflected from a radial to a tangential direction by the deflecting portion 8 of the guide tube may, by way of ex ample, be about degrees. The deflecting portion 8 interconnects the substantially straight portion 7 disposed forward of the moderately curved inlet portion 5 with the delivery portion 6 of the guide tube 4. The central por tion 7 of the guide tube 4 may also be arched or bent slightly rearward in the direction of rotation.

It is readily apparent that the curvature of the guide tube 4 should be as steady as possible. The deflection from the central portion 7 to the delivery portion 6 and that from the inlet portion 5 to said central portion should have the largest permissible radius. However, as shown in FIGURES 8 and 9, the central portion 7 should have a substantially radially extending length which is directed both outwards and downwards for directing the passage of the web in its travel from inlet portion 5 to delivery portion 6. The closed guide tube 4 preferably having a circular or elliptical cross-section, may bereplaced by a guide tube 4a (FIGURE 10) having at least a bent open guide channel 6a having a U-shaped cross section. In actual practice, horn-shaped guide tubes have proved to be quite satisfactory, i.e. guide tubes which are not only curved but also tapered in the direction from the inlet portion 5 to the delivery portion 6 (FIGURE 11). The guide tube may also be curved in a single plane which connects corresponding points of the coiler assembly in the axis of rotation and at the circumference of the turntable, or alternatively, it may be curved in at least two planes as already shown.

While it is not always necessary or essential when employing small delivery velocities of the web to provide a balance of forces acting thereon, it has been found advantageous to do so since the web can be laid out without stress or draft independently of the delivery velocity V and the tangential velocity U. In view of the balancing or elimination of such forces acting on the web, it is now possible to deposit the Web in the desired coiled configuration which is consistent and remains the same without employing the walls of the sliver container for this purpose. In the above considerations, the action or influence of the rotational movement of the sliver can on the system has not been taken into account since its speed is generally relatively small and would produce negligible results on the system.

Having thus described the invention what is new and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A method of laying out endless webs and the like in predetermined configuration; comprising the steps of advancing a web through a guide tube designed for delivering said web reaiwardly with respect to the rotation of said guide tube which is rotating at a predetermined velocity in a first predetermined direction of travel, controlling the rate of movement of said web through said guide tube while altering the direction of travel of said web for further movement and discharge of said web from said guide tube in a second predetermined direction of travel which is opposite to the direction of rotation of said guide tube so that the tangential velocity of the guide tube at its outlet is counteracted by an equal and oppositely directed horizontal component of the relative velocity of the web leaving said guide tube at said outlet.

2. A method of laying out endless webs and the like; comprising the steps of advancing a web through a curved guide tube carried on a turntable rotating at a predetermined velocity in a first predetermined direction of travel, controlling the rate of movement of said web through said guide tube while altering the direction of travel of said web for further movement and discharge from said guide tube in a second predetermined direction of travel which is opposite to the direction of rotation of said turntable at a speed so that the tangential velocity of said turntable is counteracted by a substantially equal and oppositely directed tangential component of the relative velocity of the web leaving said guide tube.

3. A coiler head assembly comprising a coiler turntable rotatable about an axis of rotation in a predetermined direction, a curved guide tube including an inlet portion and a radially spaced discharge portion having an outlet end and mounted for rotation on said coiler turntable and adapted to guide a web in a predetermined path of travel, said discharge portion of said guide tube being rearwardly directed with respect to said predetermined direction of rotation of said coiler turntable, whereby said web is fed from said guide tube in a downward and rearward direction, at least a part of said discharge portion of said guide tube being spaced a greater radial distance from said axis of rotation than is said outlet end.

4. A'coiler head assembly comprising a coiler turntable rotatable about an axis of rotation in a predetermined direction, a curved guide tube including an inlet portion and a radially spaced discharge portion mounted for rotation on said coiler turntable and adapted to guide a web in a predetermined path of travel, said guide tube having a leading guide wall terminating at an outlet end of said discharge portion, the outlet end of said discharge portion upon rotation thereof defining an imaginary circle of revolution of given radius measured from said axis of rotation, said leading guide wall of said curved guide tube having a radius of curvature at least equal to said given radius of said circle of revolution, said discharge portion of said guide tube being rearwardly directed with respect to said predetermined direction of rotation of said coiler turntable, with said leading guide wall of said guide tube including an inner wall which at least in the region of said discharge portion faces towards the axis of rotation of said coiler turntable, whereby said web is delivered from said guide tube in a downward and rearward direction.

5. A coiler head assembly comprising a coiler turntable rotatable about an axis of rotation in a predetermined direction, a curved guide tube including an inlet portion and a radially spaced discharge portion mounted for rotation on said coiler turntable and adapted to guide a web in a predetermined path of travel, said guide tube having a leading guide wall terminating at an outlet end of said discharge portion, the outlet end of said discharge portion upon rotation thereof defining an imaginary circle of revolution of given radius measured from said axis of rotation, said leading guide wall of said curved guide tube having a radius of curvature at least equal to said given radius of said circle of revolution, said discharge portion of said guide tube being rearwardly directed with respect to said predetermined direction of rotation of said coiler turntable, with said leading guide wall of said guide tube including an inner wall which at least in the region of said discharge portion faces towards the axis of rotation of said coiler turntable, whereby said Web is delivered from said guide tube in a downward and rearward direction, said discharge portion of said guide tube forming an acute angle a with respect to a horizontal plane, and said radius of curvature R in the area of said discharge portion of said guide tube is equal to 2 cosine a 1 where r is said given radius of said circle of revolution.

6. A coiler head assembly according to claim 5, wherein said curved guide tube is located in a single plane.

7. A coiler head assembly according to claim 5, where in said curved guide tube is located in at least two separate planes.

8. A coiler head assembly according to claim 5, wherein said outlet end of said discharge portion of said guide tube substantially defines a circle.

9. A coiler head assembly according to claim 5, wherein said curved guide tube is tapered between said inlet portion and said discharge portion.

10. A coiler head assembly according to claim 5, wherein said curved guide tube has a substantially U- shaped section.

11. A coiler head assembly comprising a coiler turntable rotatable about an axis of rotation in a predetermined direction, a curved guide tube including a coaxial inlet portion, a substantially straight central portion, a curved deflecting portion and a radially spaced discharge portion, said curved guide tube being mounted for rotation on said coiler turntable and adapted to guide a Web in a predetermined path of travel, said guide tube having a leading guide wall terminating at an outlet end of said discharge portion, the outlet end of said discharge portion upon rotation thereof defining an imaginary circle of revolution of given radius measured from said axis of rotation, said leading guide wall of said curved guide tube having a radius of curvature at least equal to said given radius of said circle of revolution, said discharge portion of said guide tube being rearwardly directed with respect to said predetermined direction of rotation of said coiler turntable, whereby said web is delivered from said guide tube in a downward and rearward direction.

12. A coiler head assembly according to claim 11, wherein said leading guide wall of the discharge portion of said guide tube tangentially approaches said circle of revolution from externally thereof.

13. A coiler head assembly comprising a coiler turntable rotatable about an axis of rotation in a predetermined direction, a curved guide tube including an inlet portion and a radially spaced discharge portion mounted for rotation on said coiler turntable and adapted to guide a web in a predetermined path of travel, said guide tube having a leading guide wall terminating at an outlet end of said discharge portion, the outlet end of said discharge portion upon rotation thereof defining an imaginary circle of revolution of given radius measured from said axis of rotation, said leading guide wall of said curved guide tube having a radius of curvature greater than said given radius of said circle of revolution, said discharge portion of said guide tube being rearwardly directed with respect to said predetermined direction of rotation of said coiler turntable, with said leading guide wall of said guide tube including an inner wall which at least in the region of said discharge portion faces towards the axis of rotation of said coiler turntable, whereby said web is delivered from said guide tube in a downward and rearward direction.

14. A method of laying out endless webs and the like in predetermined configuration; comprising the step of imparting rotational movement to a curved guide member so that its outlet end moves through an imaginary circle of revolution, feeding a supply of web into said curved guide member, and controlling the movement of said web through said curved guide member such that at least a portion of the path of travel of said web through said curved guide member lies outside of said imaginary circle of revolution.

15. A method of laying out endless webs and the like in predetermined configuration by means of a rotatable coiler head provided with a guide tube, comprising the steps of delivering the web into the guide tube rotating about a vertical axis with the outlet of said guide tube spaced from said vertical axis, altering the direction of travel of the web in said guide tube to deliver said Web downwardly and rearwardly with respect to the direction of rotation of the coiler head, and controlling the speed of rotation of the coiler head and the speed of delivery of the web from said guide tube such that the absolute velocity of discharge of the web is parallel to the axis of rotation of said guide tube.

16. A method of laying out endless webs and the like in predetermined configuration by means of a rotatable coiler turntable provided with a curved guide tube and rotatable about a vertical axis; comprising the steps of delivering the web into the curved guide tube altering the direction of travel of the web in said curved guide tube to deliver said web downwardly and rearwardly with respect the direction of rotation of the coiler turntable, and controlling the speed of rotation of the coiler turntable nd the speed of the web moving through the curved guide tube so that the absolute velocity of discharge of the web from the curved guide tube is equal to the resolved vertical component of the relative velocity of discharge of said web from said guide tube.

177 A method of laying out endless webs and the like in predetermined configuration by means of a rotatable coiler turntable provided with a curved guide tube and rotatable about a vertical axis; comprising the steps of delivering the web into the curved guide tube, altering the direction of travel of the web in said curved guide tube to deliver said web downwardly and rearwardly with respect to the direction of rotation of the coiler turntable, and controlling the speed of rotation of the coiler turntable and the speed of the web moving through the curved guide tube so that the absolute velocity of discharge of the web from the curved guide tube is equal to the re solved vertical component of the relative velocity of discharge of said web from said guide tube, and extends in a direction parallel to the vertical axis of rotation.

18. A method of laying out endless webs and the like by means of a rotatable coiler head; comprising the steps of guiding the web through a curved and rotatable guide tube carried by said coiler head and having a leading guide wall, the radius of curvature of which is at least equal to the radius of an imaginary circle of revolution defined by the rotation of the outlet end of said guide wall, altering the direction of travel of said web within said curved guide tube into a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the coiler head, and discharging the web from the outlet end of said curved guide tube solely in a. downward and rearward direction with respect to the direction of rotation of said coiler head.

19. A method of laying out endless Webs and the like by means of a rotatable coiler head; comprising the steps of guiding the web through a curved and rotatable guide tube supported by said coiler head and having a leading guide wall, the radius of curvature of which is greater than the radius of an imaginary circle of revolution defined by the rotation of the outlet end of said guide wall, changing the direction of travel of said web within said curved guide tube such that at least a portion of the path of travel of the Web through the curved guide tube lies outside of said imaginary circle of revolution, and finally discharging the web from the outlet end of said curved guide tube in a downward and rearward direction with respect to the direction of rotation of said coiler head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,745,146 Wilkie May 15, 1956 2,936,509 Martin May 17, 1960 3,061,893 Naegeli Nov. 6, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,217,568 France Dec. 7, 1959 

1. A METHOD OF LAYING OUT ENDLESS WEBS AND THE LIKE IN PREDETERMINED CONFIGURATION; COMPRISING THE STEPS OF ADVANCING A WEB THROUGH A GUIDE TUBE DESIGNED FOR DELIVERING SAID WEB REARWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO THE ROTATION OF SAID GUIDE TUBE WHICH IS ROTATING AT A PREDETERMINED VELOCITY IN A FIRST PREDETERMINED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL, CONTROLLING THE RATE OF MOVEMENT OF SAID WEB THROUGH SAID GUIDE TUBE WHILE ALTERING THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF SAID WEB FOR FURTHER MOVEMENT AND DISCHARGE OF SAID WEB FROM SAID GUIDE TUBE IN A SECOND PREDETERMINED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL WHICH IS OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF SAID GUIDE TUBE SO THAT THE TANGENTIAL VELOCITY OF THE GUIDE TUBE AT ITS OUTLET IS COUNTERACTED BY AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITELY DIRECTED HORIZONTAL COMPONENT OF THE RELATIVE VELOCITY OF THE WEB LEAVING SAID GUIDE TUBE AT SAID OUTLET. 